لم يعد هناك مكان آمن سوى سنتيمترات مربعة في الجمجمة – جورج أورويل

القائمة

Mona Abu Hamzeh: genuine gesture or a media stunt?

Photo Credit: Zeinoun Nabulsi

I just saw online that yesterday famous TV hostess Mona Abou Hamze has oragnized a demonstration under the title #Bikaffi raising the voice high to say: “It’s enough”. It’s enought that the prices of fuel and bread are getting very high and that the Lebanese public are getting more and more poor, not to forget all the political, social & other economical problems that Lebanon is witnessing. In general, I would always support such a noble cause, and would not question the organizers as long as they put their goal above their personal image. Based on this argument, I could not see this in last night’s demo that celebrities like Ragheb Alama, Ziyad Baroud (former minister of interior) and George Salibi (TV host).

My doubts are because of knowing the fact that Mrs. Abou Hamze is the wife of Cogico CEO, Mr. Bahij Abou Hamze, who is very tightly linked to MP sectarian leader & civil war lord Walid Junbalt. Now you ask so what? She could be a wife of a very rich businessman who went to Libya with MP Junblat diretly after Qaddhafi fell to do business in oil industry there (same relationship was guaranteed with the regime when Qaddhafi was there too). Still so what if she is married to a man who took over a fuel port in Jiyyed, southern Lebanon during the civil war and turned out to become a private harbor for his fuel company? I also heard rumors about Mrs. Abou Hamze got paid thousands (some said around a million) of dollars for Persil detergent ad (again its her right to make money).

Note: Now writing a day after..

A lady I met yesterday in the Laique pride told me that I should look at Mrs. Mona’s clothes and make up which are enough to feed three poor families. Even this is something debatable, why should she be poor in order to support the ones who are less fortunate? Why can’t someone enjoy what he/she has earned so much and yet stand up for bigger issues and beliefs? Well all of this is could be true until you see these:

What are these? Well they are tweets from an account called Bobolink.. & Bobolink is a digital agency that takes care of public figures social media platforms.. Mona Abou Hamze is a Bobolink client (fact), so it makes me (and maybe you) wonder (if we added to it all the things said above) if what Mona Abou Hamze did is a genuine gesture or a media stunt?

She is a complete media stunt; to publicize more for her “human” character and her husband’s as well, I bet she would fall for if any questions her husband’s business!!
I do believe, a devoted journalist or TV personality shouldn’t involve in marketing for a product for whatsoever reasons, because now she became a slave for their And she/he becomes like the businesswoman Oprah Winfrey!
You said she earned thousands or millions! well, this explains much!

Indeed, it is not wrong for a journalist or TV personality to market for or do an ad, but it more ethical to involve in human/animal/plant cause than market for a product!
She is definitely “ala mode”, all people are protesting: yalla let’s get to the streets and get our moment!

There is a fine line between being cynical and being critical.
I see the point of this article; however, my main concern is why all the cynicism in it?
I have read an extensive personal background about Mona’s husband, whom I do not personally know. For me, Mona is the person that matters here and if I were to judge her, I would do it according to her deeds and not her family.
You may ask yourself, you have done in your article what you promptly wanted to criticise. Blaming an individual according to his family background? Too Lebanese, isn’t it?

Last but not least, we might want to contemplate Mona Bou Hamza’s poems that reflect her true soul and her humane side.

Mona organised a tajjamo3 after this demonstration with the target of supporting the lebanese ctizens. And the deeds of this tajamo3 will talk for her. As to her husband he is an oil distributer. ( for as long as I know there are no oil wells in lebanon) and not an oil lord. and he has the right to deal with a new regime in lybia or as long as he gets his product legally. He did not visit lybia for money laundring of an old regime like many did with Saddam or Kaddafi but to start a legal business with a new government.